Watching Snow White while reading about drug companies and their expensive research, something hit me.
What is worth more to humanity - a new miracle drug that could cure HIV/AIDS or another great Disney movie? Stupid question, I know. Which is more expensive to make? In case you didn't know, researching a new drug could cost $500 million or more; most new movies cost less than $50 million, so new drugs easily cost 10 times more than new movies.
A pharmaceutical company is allowed a 20 year patent on a new drug (Forbes) from registration (before any trials - it could still take up to a decade before it gets to market); yet Snow White is still under copyright 74 years after release?
Generic companies are hailed as saviours when then copy a drug, and make a cheap generic available, yet a 12-year old gets arrested for copying a single song?
Am I the only one who thinks that something is rotten if this is allowed to go on?
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